All things Bacom

All things BACON!

By Chef Lippe

Everyone in my house loves bacon.  We have made chocolate with candied bacon. We even add some chili powder to give it a little bite.  We have made praline bacon, bacon ice cream, bacon butter, bacon jam and the list goes on.

I know that the war on bacon is good for you or bad for you it still on going, which over the last few years bacon is about 30% leaner now than it used to be.  Then cooking removes another 30% and a crispy slice of bacon is now about 30 to 40 calories per slice.  However, we are treating bacon as an ingredient in a VERY sweet dish today and we are not going to count the calories! Then there is the warning about bacon and cancer.  Bacon is considered a red meat, it is processed (smoked) and it is fatty all the reasons why you should avoid it. But it TASTES so good that a little snack now and then won’t hurt you.

So here are two of my favorite bacon recipes enjoy! (Eat in moderation if you can )

Chocolate chili covered candied bacon

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound thinly sliced applewood smoked Bacon
• 1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• 1/2 pound of chocolate melting chips (Pure Belgian Chocolate or any other of your choice)

** Note your amounts will vary depending on how many chocolates you wish to make.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (you really need this)

Lay your bacon strips out making sure not to overlap them. Layer each strip of bacon with a thick coating of brown sugar, rubbing it into the bacon.

Place bacon into preheated oven for 10 minutes. Flip bacon and cover new side with syrup and juices. Cook 10 more minutes.

Allow bacon to cool on wire rack. For easy cleanup, place the wire rack over the parchment paper the bacon was cooked on.

Once bacon has cooled, is brittle and tastes oh-so-yummy, crumble or roughly chop the bacon and place a sprinkling of bacon bits in each mold.

In the meantime, prepare a double boiler using a pot and metal bowl. Fill the pot with water, place the bowl in the pot - the bowl should not touch the water. Heat on low-medium heat.

Once bowl is heated place chocolate discs inside to begin melting. Stir often to avoid burning or seizing. Once chocolate has melted, pour into each mold, being sure to tap the molds after each is filled (to knock out any air bubbles). Sprinkle in some more bacon bits, press them into the mixture and place in the fridge to cool.

Bacon Ice Cream

For the ice cream custard:
3 tablespoons salted butter
¾ cup (packed) brown sugar, light or dark (you can use either)
2¾ cup half-and-half
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons dark rum or whiskey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Use candied bacon made earlier  Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice.

To make the ice cream custard, melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and half of the half-and-half. Pour the remaining half-and-half into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top.

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over low to moderate heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add liquor, vanilla and cinnamon, if using.

Refrigerate the mixture. Once thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.